Postcard from Bishkek

Dehn Goroda – City Day – is a traditional “holiday” in Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union – a day designed to instill interest and pride in the city among its inhabitants.

Each city will have it’s assigned day, which often celebrates the founding of the city, the date being fixed accordingly.  It is usually held on a Sunday, however, events organized to commemorate the occasion may take place over an extended period and if the allocated day is a Sunday, then they will usually start on the previous day, (the Saturday), and will often conclude with a firework display.

There is usually a lot of preparation work in order to clean the city and make it presentable.  Buildings will be decorated, street bunting and posters erected.  Events may include concerts, festivals and parades in which the city, (Mayor, etc.) will play a leading role, but the idea is to involve as many of the local citizens as possible, if not all of them.

Today happens to be Dehn Goroda for Osh - Kyrgyzstan’s second city.  Knowing how the Kyrgyz love any excuse for a celebration I am expecting there will be the usual festivities … concerts … fireworks … special programmes on the TV and so on.

 

I am not sure that there will much celebrating going on in Kyrgyzstan this week apart from these festivities.  The news hasn’t been too encouraging.

One man who might be celebrating, however, is Bakytbek Amanbaev.  Do I hear you asking, “Who?”  If so, then rest assured that you are not alone.  He is not exactly a high profile character although there was an interesting (short) conversation on Twitter with one person saying that no-one in Kyrgyzstan knew who he was and another saying saying something like, “you may not know him but we remember … “.  Mr. Amanbaev provided a surprise by being elected as the new Ombudsman - the “main defender” of the country.

He went on to provide a few more surprises … when a headline stated that he “promises to help members of sexual minorities and to protect the status of Russian language”.  Reading the report rather than the headline, when faced with the question, “Some candidates for the post of ombudsmen have expressed their intolerance towards representatives, such as sexual minorities. How will you treat them?”, he said, “We will work with such people.  After all, they are also citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic, and they may also need help from the main defender of the country. That means we need to help.”  Although that seems quite positive, I am not sure that it is quite the resounding support that the headline suggests.  Still, his words have met with a qualified welcome from the LGBT community.

In terms of supporting the status of Russian, he said: “I will defend the interests of the Kyrgyz people and the fundamentals of the Constitution guaranteeing citizens including the right to choose the language.”

His predecessors have also been in the news this week.  The previous incumbent is continuing his hunger strike in protest against his removal from office and says he won’t vacate his office for him.  As it happens, he did appear to be sympathetic to helping “sexual minorities” but I think, judging from the public pronouncements of many public figures, that he was out of kilter with them on this.

Tursunbai Bakir uulu, the first ombudsman, is a renowned conservative and advocate for preserving traditional culture and values … and a critic of blindly adopting “Western” values.  I don’t think he would be sympathetic at all to members of “sexual minorities”.  He is also a sponsor of a number of legislative initiatives including the draft Foreign Agents law, based on a similar law in Russia which requires that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which receive finance from abroad should register as Foreign Agents … which in Russian is basically a synonym for “spies”.  A draft law, incidentally, which the President says he doesn’t support and Kyrgyzstan doesn’t need.

To be fair, Tursunbai Bakir uulu does make some quite good points about the financial dependence of NGOs on grants from foreign sources … and the effect this has on their motivation.  Some donors, and recipients, do indeed seem to have what could be considered as “political”  purposes … but others are clearly “humanitarian” … for example Healthprom (to give just one example) which aims to help the country’s disabled.  I can’t help wondering if the result of this proposed legislation might be if and when it is applied to the Red Cross/Red Crescent.

The question of espionage has also been in the news with the deputies considering a change to the law which would equate collecting and passing “state secrets” to international organizations, (such as the World Bank and IMF?) with as espionage.  Apparently the law currently refers just to passing this information to foreign countries but not to these international institutions.

Returning to the issue of “sexual politics” for a moment, the reluctance to address the issue is quite worrying if some news reports are anything to go by.  There’s been a conference on the future of Sex Education here in Kyrgyzstan, highlighting issues such as Teenage marriages – and Teenage pregnancies, the need to limit the number of sexual partners, the incidence of HIV and sexually transmitted infections … and so on.  The really surprising report was the one that suggested that half the population of Kyrgyzstan were infected with Venereal Disease (!)  It might well be a serious question that needs to be addressed … but 50% of the population ?!

The topic has quite a mixed history, which actually resembles the controversies in places like Britain and America, with, for example, specially written textbooks being banned.

Incidentally, it’s Banned Book Week and I have been fascinated to see some of the books that have been banned from school’s … including, according to one report (which I find hard to credit), the dictionary – because naughty little schoolboys would go and search for the “naughty bits” and snicker at them behind the bike sheds …

Schools have also been in the news … tomorrow is the Day of the Teacher … I don’t understand why they chose to mark this particular professional holiday on a day (the first Sunday in October) when schools are closed.  According to the Minister of Education there’s a shortage of about 2000 teachers across the country – that about one per school.  Although it presents a real problem, he says, it’s not a catastrophe.  Although there is something in what he says … what that figure hides are details like: where are those missing teachers are … in what subject areas and what parts of the country … and what is the real figure if the number of pensioners who continue working way past the normal retirement age and why newly qualified graduates don’t want to work as teachers.

There are some groups of people that won’t be allowed to fill those vacancies.  A new law prohibits criminals, (I presume that means people with criminal records), from working in schools.   

In yet another move, preaching in schools and other educational institutions such as child care centers and universities, is being banned.   This is part of a measure which will prevent “proselytism”, (“attempting to convert people to another religion or opinion”) as well as (and here I quote the news report) any “illegal missionary activity which will be considered illegal” and result in the imposition of fines ranging from 5000 to 7000 som (and from 20,000 to 30,000 som for organizations).

Talk about “tautology” … “illegal activity will be considered illegal” … and that’s without the apparent prohibition on argument and discourse to persuade others of a different “opinion” from changing their mind.  To be fair, that may just be the way it’s reported … but if it that is what is in the law, then I think it may need to be reconsidered.

According to the Minister, there is also a shortage of school buildings … although there are now no “tent schools”, (which is a just as well with winter rapidly approaching), several schools have had to be housed in temporary accommodation, other buildings, because their own buildings are “not suitable for the purpose” … and something like 370 schools are considered to be “in a dangerous condition”.    To be fair, there is a programme of building new schools, so maybe that shortage will be dealt with in the foreseeable future.

 

The deputies have really been busy this week.  In another move, it has been suggested that the penalties for traffic offences to be further strengthened.  One deputy has suggested the fine for “drunk driving” should be as much as a thousand som … actually, he wants it raised eventually to USD1000!

Drink Driving is an issue here – much as it is elsewhere in the world.  The sentences for Driving Under the Influence were toughened a couple of years ago but a news report last year suggested that every tenth car accident is caused by a drunk driver.  Last week a spokesman  for the GAI, (the traffic police), suggested that the number of traffic violations were increasing day by day … .   So far this year, in the capital, there have been almost 2000 road accidents resulting in 55 deaths.

Perhaps the strangest thing that he revealed was that of 204 driving schools – I was amazed that there were that many – some 20 don’t have an address (!) so how they work is anyone’s guess … the implication was, of course, that they weren’t really “schools” but simply existed “on paper” in order to provide documentation so that their “students” could apply for a driver’s license.  It seems that only 3 schools have facilities, (test tracks), for students to practice … but then I wondered how many such schools in the UK have such facilities.

A couple of weeks ago the Prime Minister was complaining about the inefficiency of the traffic police, but last week we saw exhortations for them to be more stringent in upholding the law … and last year there were reports of a corrupt scheme being exposed whereby members of the GAI collected “on the spot fines” which were never recorded and then paid a “retainer” to their immediate superior.

Incidentally, as I understand it, according to Kyrgyz law the payment of traffic fines must be made at local banks rather than directly to the traffic police – but as that involves them taking the driver’s license and issuing a temporary document – with the original being reclaimed from the local police station once the fine has been paid – it is easy to understand why most drivers are happy to pay an “on-the-spot fine”.

As well as Teachers’ Day, this week saw the International Day of the Elderly … and it was reported that there are some 10 people over the age of 100 living in Bishkek.  The oldest is 108 years old.  One of the Centenarians featured in the press to commemorate the day lives in Issyk Kul and is still very active – growing tomatoes.  The story suggested that, having worked in agriculture for over 60 years, they have a abiding interest in horticulture.

I couldn’t help wondering, however, if it wasn’t also an attempt to feed themselves and possibly earn a little additional income.  The Day of the Elderly was marked by an increase in the state pension – by 400 som … although that sounds a lot – 400 – it’s just over USD8 … a month … and the average pension in the country is just 4554 som a month – or just over USD90.  In fact, almost 40% of pensioners receive less than the official figure for subsistence.

Some of the stories in the press have been episodes in the long running sagas which I have frequently mentioned in these postcards …

The Kumtor saga … now it appears that the Ministry of Justice want to shift attention away from the current company operating the mine, Cameco, and to seek pursuing the earlier companies on charges of corruption in connection with the earlier deals struck with the government.  In the meantime, the cry for Kyrgyztsna to take a 70% stake in the new company – not 50% as currently proposed.

The Manas Transit base saga … the IMF has weighed in by saying that the end of the lease in 2014 will provide problems for budget – and speculation in the international press about where the Americans will go instead … assuming that they are not going to withdraw from the region.

The Maksim Bakiev saga … with representations being made by Kyrgyz diplomats to London and Washington about the possibility of extraditing the son of the former President.

The Energy saga … with Uzbekistan raising the hydroelectric projects in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the United Nations … the news that expenditure of something like USD35 millions is planned for the development of reseervoirs around the country … proposals to raise electricity tariffs next year … Kyrgyzstan owes something like USD12 million for Gas – which is worrying with winter approaching and the heating season about to commence … a report from the World Trade Organization which suggests that Kyrgyzstan has considerable untapped – undiscovered, even – reserves of oil and gas … the trend for more and more high-rise construction projects in Bishkek is putting a strain on the infrastructure for utilities – electricity, water, heating and so forth.

The Kyrgyz-Uzbek saga … with the news that the Uzbek  border troops have been removed from the Kyrgyz transmission station in the disputed Ungar Too mountainous region.

The RHD saga … (Right Hand Drive vehicles), with the customs service proposing that Kyrgyzstan limit the import of such vehicles

The tourism saga … with the Deputy Minister in charge of the Tourism Department at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Information, actually admitting that the season was “not successful” … for “political and economic reasons”.  Although the relaxation of the visa regime had encouraged an influx of tourists from the favoured nations, the disturbances on the southern shore of Lake Issyk Kul and other administrative barriers had meant a somewhat mixed season.  I wasn’t sure whether I found his candour refreshing … or if he was simply positioning himself.

 

A couple of  ”new” stories emerged … one surrounding the sale of the Ak Kula Hippodrome here in Bishkek – a national monument which was apparently sold to a foreigner, although not the land … foreigners can’t own land … despite the fact that as an object of cultural and historical importance it can’t be sold.   Hmmmm … I suspect that we are going to hear a lot more about this in the weeks to come.

If the sale of a national monument wasn’t the cause for a few red faces, the news of a new edition of Kyrgyz stamps might have been.  Earlier in the week the internet was awash with comments about a one of the former Soviet  republics, a Moslem country no less, (that’s not strictly true – although the majority of Kyrgyz might claim to be Moslem, it is technically a secular republic – but we’ll let that pass for the moment), deciding to honour the artwork of Eric Stanton by issuing a set of commemorative stamps.  What made this particular set of stamps so interesting was that Stanton’s portfolio included illustrated artwork for twentieth century BDSM themed adult comics with titles like: “Rita’s School of Discipline” and “Helga’s Search for Slaves”.  The stamps are fakes … they are not genuine, official Kyrgyz stamps … someone’s idea of a joke?

Like most countries, Kyrgyzstan publishes stamps commemorating prominent historical figures, (like athlete Kaba uulu Kojomkul), or the sites of natural beauty, (such as Sary-Chelek).   For some reason, however, Kyrgyzstan is one of several countries which have seen a boom in fake stamps which have appeared on the philately market.  Naive stamp collectors have been duped by unscrupulous vendors selling various counterfeit Kyrgyz stamps celebrating such unlikely figures as Harry Potter and Pope John Paul II.   This is just the latest in a long line of fake stamps.

Mind you, these stamps might have more novelty value than the commemorative stamps issued by the State Enterprise “Kyrgyzmarkasy” depicting Suleiman Too earlier this year.

 

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Postcard from Bishkek: the weekly postcard that I send out as an email also gets posted on the website ianbek.kg each week – and there are other postcards which don’t get sent out.  This week, for example, there has been the following postcards:

Tags: In_the_News, Weekly_Postcards